Marble shooter



Apr. 10, 1923. 1,451,230

T. J. MAHONEY MARBLE SHOOTER Filed Mar. 10, 1921 mam 7%amw' JmazmPatented Apr. 10, 1923.

UNITED sra'ras Parser were.

'rnomas J. MAHONEY, or COLORADO srarives, COLORADO. I,

MARBLE SHOOTER.

Application filed March 10, 1921. Serial No. 451,218. g

T all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS J. MAHONEY, acitizen of the United States, residing at Colorado Springs, in thecounty of El Paso,

5 State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Marble Shooters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, .such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in toys andparticularly to devices for projecting marbles in the game of marbles.

One object of the inventionis to provide a projector or shooter by meansof which the player may project or shoot the marble known as the shooterwithout the use of the thumb, the result being a more accurate aimwithout the tiring of the hand.

Another object is to provide a. projector of this character which is soconstructed that the operator may regulate the force exerted on themarble to throw the same from the shooter or projector.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a marble projector madein accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a topplan view of the same.

Figure 3 is a horizontal longitudinal sec tional view through thedevice.

Referring particularly to the accompanying drawing, 10 represents thehand grlp portion of the device which has the forwardly projectingbarrel 11 adapted to receive the marble 12, to be projected therefrom.In the rear end of the barrel are arranged the inwardly bowed resilientmembers 13, which grip the marble lightly and prevent the same fromrolling out of the barrel after having been placed therein for thepurpose of projecting the same. In the barrel, rearwardly of the marbleretaining means 13, is a centrally apertured member or wall 14 throughwhich is slidably disposed the projecting plunger 15. The for ward endof the plunger is provided with a head of a diameter slightly less thanthat 5 of the barrel, as shown at 16, while'the rear end is providedwith a smaller head 17, against which the hammer, to be later described,is adapted to strike. Between the head 17, and the apertured Wall, andencircling the stem of the plunger, is a coil spring l8which normallyand yieldably retains the plunger in rearward position.

Mounted on the pivot 19, for horizontal swinging movement on the handgrip portion 10, is a segmental disk member 20 in the curved portion ofthe periphery of which there are formed the ratchet notches 21.Pivotally mounted on the portion 10 is a trigger or detent 22 which isnormally urged into engagement with the notches or teeth of the segment,by the spring 23. The outer end of the detent is arranged to be pressedinwardly by the thumb of the hand of the player who grasps the device,to release the disk. A leaf spring 24 is secured at one end to the pivotof the disk and has its other end engaged with the pin or projection 25,thereof, so that said spring'will cause the disk to rotate on its pivot,when released from the detent. Projecting from one end of the flatportion of the disk is a handle 26, which is adapted to be grasped bythe operator to swing the disk around and engage its teeth with thedetent. A portion of the flat edge of the disk is slightly 85 thickenedor widened, as at 27 and is an ranged in such positionthat it willstrike the head 17 when released from the detent, with the result thatit will drive the plunger forward against the marble, and project themarble from the barrel.

The edge of the disk is provided with a number of notches or teeth sothat the disk may be swung aroundtoengage any one of said teeth with thedetent. This will put the spring 24 under varying tensions, so that theforce of the blow of the portion 27 will be regulated, and the marbleprojected with greater or lesser force.

The casing 10 is grasped in the hand of the player with one. of the flatsides toward the ground and in such position that the forefinger of the.hand can grasp the knob 26 to partially rotate the disk 20, to beengaged by the pawl 22. To discharge the marble the player simplydepresses the outer end of the pawl 22 with hisqthumb, which releasesthe pawl from the notches of the disk, whereupon the spring 24 willswing the disk around so that'it will, strike the inner end of theplunger with sufiicient force,

to drive it forward and discharge the marble from the barrel.

What is claimed is:

A marble shooter comprising a circular casing having awtube extendingfrom the curved side thereof and intersecting the same, a spring pressedplunger mounted in the tube and extending into the casing, one portionof the curved side of the casing having a slot, a segmental disk mountedfor partial rotation Within the casing With one end of its flat edgeportion disposed for striking engagement with the said plunger, a springfor normally urging the disk into engagement With the plunger, notchesin the curved portion of the edgev of the disk, and a pivoted springpressed detent mountedon the casing and releasably engaging the notches,anda handle on the curved portion of the disk movable in said slot.

In testimony whereof, I afliX my signature, in the presence of twoWitnesses.

THOMAS J. MAHONEY. Witnesses:

D. O. JoRnoN, D. H. ROBBINS.

